Tagarchief: Cult Movies

Glen or Glenda

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld


“I Changed My Sex!”

Director: Edward D. Wood Jr.
Written by: Edward D. Wood Jr.
Cast: Bela Lugosi, Lyle Talbot, Tomothy Farrell, Dolores Fuller, Edward D. Wood Jr.

Year / Country: 1953, USA
Running Time: 68 mins.

In the making of this film, which deals with a strange and curious subject, no punches have been pulled – no easy way out is taken. Many of the smaller parts are portrayed by persons who actually are, in real life, the character they portray on the screen. This is a picture of stark realism…taking no sides…but giving you the facts…All the facts…as they are today… You are society…JUDGE YE NOT…..

This is how it starts. Director Ed Wood sure meant business. As a cross dresser, he was driven to bring his ‘dilemma’ to the screen. Glen is what medical science calls ‘a transvestite’. The world doesn’t understand it. A very serious subject. But if you want the audience to take it seriously, throwing in Bela Lugosi in improvised talkie scenes, completely unrelated to the story, is probably not the best idea.

Director Edward D. Wood Jr.’s breakthrough movie suffers from way too much explanation. There are some very funny scenes though. Glenda in front of the store window, Bela Lugosi’s ‘pull the strings’ monologue intercut with buffalos, Bela being entertained by sexy girls. Hilarious then, hilarious now. Glen or Glenda belongs in any cult geeks collection.

Rating:

Biography: Edward D. Wood Jr. (1924, New York – 1978, Hollywood) is widely considered as the world’s worst filmmaker. His low-budget movies, usually mergers of science-fiction and horror, are mostly complete disasters in terms of production values and continuity. In 1994, Edward D. Wood Jr. became the subject of an amazing biopic directed by Tim Burton called Ed Wood.

Filmography: The Sun Was Setting (1951, TV short), Trick Shooting with Kenne Duncan (1953, short), Glen or Glenda (1953), Crossroad Avenger: The Adventures of the Tuscon Kid (1953, TV short), Boots (1953, short), Jail Bait (1954), Bride of the Monster (1955), The Night the Banshee Cried (1957, short), Final Curtain (1957, short), Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959), Night of the Ghouls (1959), The Sinister Urge (1960), Take It Out in Trade (1970), The Young Marrieds (1971), Necromania: A Tale of Weird Love (1971)

Repo Man

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Alex Cox
Written by: Alex Cox
Cast: Harry Dean Stanton, Emilio Estevez, Tracey Walter, Olivia Barash

Year / Country: 1984, USA
Running Time: 92 mins.

Repo men are repossessors. They take back cars from bad debtors who have failed to pay their bills. They often work through the night and rely on speed to keep up with the demands of the job. Suburban punk Otto (Emilio Estevez) lands a position with the Helping Hand Corporation, where his mentor becomes veteran repossessor Bud (Harry Dean Stanton), who shows him the ropes.

Together, Bud and Otto make an effective car-recovery team, but the job comes with plenty of threats: the fierce Rodriguez brothers as rival operators, a gang of punks, and even the government. Trigger-happy car owners frequently complicate matters as well. The story really gains momentum when a highly valuable Chevy Malibu is flagged for repossession. What no one realizes, however, is that the car originates from Roswell, New Mexico and that its trunk contains a mysterious alien device.

Writer-director Alex Cox once worked as a repo man himself, and he blends that firsthand experience with sci-fi elements to create something decidedly unconventional. Repo Man carries a strong cult vibe, which is both rare and appealing. The downside is that this atmosphere sometimes feels like the film’s main selling point. Still, a number of funny moments and consistently enjoyable performances make it a very watchable movie, just not quite the cult masterpiece it might have been.

Rating:

Biography: Alex Cox (1954, Liverpool) left law school to study film at Bristol University. Then he worked as a repo-man. He used his experiences in this profession to write and direct his feature debut Repo Man. After that, he worked as an actor, writer and director. He was successful in the eighties, especially with Sid and Nancy. Since the nineties, he mostly directed TV-movies and documentaries.

Filmography: Sleep is for Sissies (1980, short), Repo Man (1984), Sid and Nancy (1986), Straight to Hell (1987), Walker (1987), Red Hot and Blue (1990, TV), Highway Patrolman (1991), Death and the Compass (1992), The Winner (1996), Three Businessmen (1998), Kurosawa: The Last Emperor (1999, TV-doc), A Hard Look (2000, TV-doc), Revengers Tragedy (2002), Mike Hama, Private Detective: Mike Hama Must Die! (2002, TV), I’m a Juvenile Delinquent, Jail Me! (2004, TV), Searchers 2.0 (2007), Repo Chick (2009), Straight to Hell Returns (2010)

Cult Radar: Part 5

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

FilmDungeon.com is glad to explore the video trenches to find that oddball treasure between the piles of crap out there. Off course a treasure in this context can also be a film that’s so shockingly bad it’s worth a look, or something so bizarre that cult fans just have to see it. Join us on our quest and learn what we learn. Hopefully we’ll uncover some well-hidden cult gems.

Researched by: Jeppe Kleijngeld

The Inglorious Bastards (Italy, 1978)
OT: Quel maledetto treno blindato

Directed by: Enzo G. Castellari
Written by: Sandro Continenza, Sergio Grieco, Franco Marotta,
Romano Migliorini, Laura Toscano
Cast: Bo Svenson, Peter Hooten, Fred Williamson, Michael Pergolani

Before Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, there was this WWII exploitation flick. A group of Dirty Dozen-like US soldiers get transported through France in order to be court-martialed. After they get ambushed by Germans, they manage to escape. They take one German hostage, who is to lead them to safe Switzerland. Underway they have to battle their way through hoards of Nazi’s and the US military. This film is characterized by loads of shoot-outs, explosions and humor. And of course some naked girls; every exploitation film needs a couple of those! The ‘Bastards’ (five in total) are well cast. Williamson is excellent as a badass motherfucker. While the movie never becomes truly great, it does manage to involve the viewer in the characters’ mission, and every time the glorious WWII music plays, you can’t help but cheer for these bastards.

EXTRA’S: As entertaining as the movie, is the excellent 38 minute discussion between Tarantino and director Enzo Castellari about their influences (Peckinpah) and the art of filmmaking.

The Strangler of Blackmoor Castle (Germany, 1963)
OT: Der würger von schloß Blackmoor

Directed by: Harald Fodor
Written by: Ladislas Fodor, Gustav Kampendonk, Bryan Edgar Wallace
Cast: Karin Dor, Harry Riebauer, Rudolt Fernau, Hans Nielsen

A hooded figure invades Blackmoor Castle, during a party held by the castle’s tenant Lucius Clark. The ‘Strangler’ threatens him and demands the diamonds back that Clark supposedly stole. He also leaves one man dead with a ‘M’ marked on his forehead. A Scotland Yard inspector comes over to the estate to investigate the murder. He discovers a plot around the diamonds and a confrontation with the killer ensues. This detective movie uses the build-up of a horror. This makes the beginning quite suspenseful, but it becomes a bit dull halfway through, when it turns out to be just another mediocre whodunit. Still, it is not totally without a sense of style and humor. The electronic soundtrack is made by Oskar ‘The Birds’ Sala.

Planet of Dinosaurs (USA, 1978)

Directed by: James K. Shea
Written by: Jim Aupperle, Ralph Lucas
Cast: James Whitworth, Pamela Bottaro, Louie Lawless, Harvey Shain

The DVD cover of Planet of Dinosaurs is a true masterpiece, but does the movie live up to it? That depends on your taste for campy stop-motion creature features. The story: a spaceship crash lands on a seemingly deserted planet. There are initially nine survivors that start to scout the area. Within two minutes, there are eight survivors left. They have landed on the planet of the apes with dinosaurs!! Some observations:
– Space effects in the beginning, ships and stuff, are very funny.
– The crew has ‘four lasers’. Hmmm…[cynical]cool.[/cynical]
– One of the last stop motion creature flicks. It’s not Harryhausen, but there is quite a lot of variety in prehistoric monsters. Only too bad they are somewhat static.
– The actors are as convincing as the dinosaurs.
– Lame dialogues and synthesizer score.

Worth watching? Yes, if you find this type of thing hilarious. Otherwise avoid.

Diabolik (Italy / France, 1968)

Directed by: Mario Bava
Written by: Mario Bava, Brian Degas, Tudor Gates, Arduino Maiuri
Cast: John Phillip Law, Marisa Mell, Michel Piccoli, Adolfo Celi

Adaptation from the Italian comic book series, produced by Dino De Laurentiis and directed by horror author Mario Bava, doing a wonderful job outside of his usual territory. John Phillip Law plays anti hero Diabolik, a masked super thief who steals riches from both the government and the Mafia. His partner is the beautiful and voluptuous Eva (Marisa Mell). Together they fulfill the male fantasy: driving black and white jaguars, making love between 10 million dollars in a rotating bed and getting away with the most daring robberies. Their opponents are inspector Ginco and mob boss Valmont, who team up in an attempt to lure Diabolik and Eva into a trap. Bava directs this superhero movie with great style, while showing respect for the source material. He delivers one amazing set-piece after another, accompanied by a brilliant musical score from master Ennio Morricone. Camp was never before or after this spectacular. Diabolik = must see movie.

Mister Scarface (Italy / Germany, 1976)
OT: I padroni della città

Directed by: Fernando Di Leo
Written by: Peter Berling, Fernando Di Leo
Cast: Harry Baer, Al Cliver, Jack Palance, Gisela Hahn

Tony (Harry Baer) collects accounts receivable for gangster Luigi. His crime family gets involved in a power struggle with local bigshot ‘Scarface’ Manzari (Palance). Tony teams up with fellow collector Rick (Al Cliver). Together they plan to scheme Scarface out of a fortune and retire afterwards. This leads to an inevitable bloody confrontation with Scarface and his crew. The fuzzy plot and often inaudible dialogues (due to deteriorated picture quality) make this movie hard to follow at times. The good things are Palance’s demonic performance and the well crafted Napels underworld atmosphere. Lot’s of action and violence during the second half especially, make this worth a look for gangster film enthusiasts.


John Phillip Law and Marisa Mell in Diabolik.

 

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Fran Rubel Kuzui
Written by: Joss Whedon
Cast: Kristy Swanson, Donald Sutherland, Paul Reubens, Rutger Hauer, Luke Perry

Year / Country: 1992, USA
Running Time: 82 mins.

Vampires have always been around us: hunting, killing, sucking blood. The chosen one is The Slayer, who alone can stand against the powers of darkness. When a slayer dies, a new one arises. But what happens in modern times? A blonde cheerleader receives the powers! Meet Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Before she moved to Sunnydale, Buffy lived in L.A., the City of Angels…and monsters. A mysterious stranger named Merrick approaches Buffy and convinces her she is the chosen one to fight evil demon Lothos, an old vampire who has been in the crusades. She gets help from romantic agitator Luke Perry. Screenplay writer Joss Whedon establishes the basis here of what would later become the renowned cult series of the same name.

The main story revolves around Buffy, who wants a normal teenager life but has to deal with dark powers and slaying vampires. Naturally this 80 minute film is more compact than the 145-episode series that followed it. Therefore some elements that made the series great – Angel, Spike, Brendan, Willow, a variety of monsters – are missing. On the other hand, Rutger Hauer as Lothos is a worthy villain and Paul Reuben is an interesting casting choice for his henchman.

Donald Sutherland is also excellent as the tutor, and Kristy Swanson portrays Buffy well, although personally I like Sarah Michelle Gellar better in the role. The kung-fu and vampire staking fights don’t look so great in this film, which is a miss, since this is an important part of the concept.

Still, if you’re into Buffy, this is a decent cult movie that can now be seen as a prequel to the television series.

Rating:

Biography: Fran Rubel Kuzui is mostly known as (executive) producer of the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel. She also produced Trey Parker’s Orgazmo. Her filmography lists two directing credits: the already mentioned Buffy, and US/Japan production Tokyo Pop, in which a young female rock singer is not appreciated by her band and moves to Tokyo.

Filmography: Tokyo Pop (1988), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)